Emerilia Series Box Set 2

by Michael Chatfield

  The shutters moved quickly, opening up to the observation deck Dave was standing on.

  “Wow.” Dave looked through the thick polycarbide material that made up the observation bubble. The interesting material didn’t distract him as he looked down at Emerilia. He could make out Ashal slowly turning around and into Gudalo. Weather systems moved through the air; whites, greens, browns, and blues showed the beauty of the world below. That shining, beautiful and intricate marble rolled beneath as a vista of stars framed the planet.

  Dave looked to the sides, noticing cannons, hangars, and anti-fighter batteries. “This is a warship and we’re in space?”

  “This is an imperial carrier, six hundred years old and works as well as she did the day she was turned into my prison and home.” Bob rubbed a seat he stood next to affectionately.

  “I should have thought of this. It makes perfect sense—need some kind of fail-safe in place.” Dave looked at the monstrous sides of the carrier. It must’ve been kilometers long and he couldn’t see how wide it was with the curved side of the craft.

  “The ever-living caretaker.” Bob looked to Emerilia as one of the moons and sun appeared in their view, the observatory’s glass darkening.

  They stood there for a while, just admiring the beauty that they were able to see in their lifetime.

  “You know, I had so many people working up in space but I never got up there myself,” Dave said.

  Bob held his comments, letting Dave talk.

  “I always wanted to go into space. I never had enough money for the hotels in orbit, or even the balloons that would take you up for a few hours. Then, when I had enough money for it, I was an uninsurable nightmare if I wanted to go where my people were. I was worth too much to risk going into space.” Dave snorted derisively.

  “Well, now here I am, actually over a planet. Kind of weird knowing that I will never see Earth. I thought of it as my home, but now I know that Emerilia is. There’s a rare beauty to seeing a world from on high.”

  “It makes one feel protective,” Bob added as they continued to orbit Emerilia. “For many years, I deceived myself, thinking of myself as just some kind of preservation nut keeping alive a species for the sake of it. One day I was in here, strung out and tired by it all. I was crying actually and Anna found me. She asked me what was wrong.” Bob took a breath. “I said that I was tired of seeing so many of my Humans die.”

  Bob turned, looking to Dave with his silver eyes. “Do you know what she said? She said ‘It’s always hardest for parents to see their children die before them.’”

  Bob looked back to Emerilia. “That was the day that I realized that I didn’t think of myself as some manager of a zoo. I thought of myself as a surrogate father.”

  They stood there for a while.

  “Come, Dave. I have something to show you.” Bob moved away from the observation dome. The shutters started to close again as Dave followed Bob.

  They took a short ride on the lift and appeared in a hangar. Instead of rows of fighters and smaller craft, there were rows upon rows of shelving and boxes all neatly stored away.

  “This is my gift to you,” Bob said.

  Dave checked a prompt that appeared off to the side of his vision.

  Class: Friend of the Grey God

  Status:

  Level 3

  Effects:

  +30 to all stats

  Access to hidden quests.

  Access to the Imperial Carrier Datskun

  Class: Bleeder

  Status:

  Level 2

  Effects:

  +20 to all stats

  Ability to disable Jukal Link

  Dave waved the prompts away as he felt as if something was connecting to his mind. “What the hell?” Dave scratched the side of his head.

  Bob stopped and turned around. “Oh, that’s the Datskun’s systems connecting to you. I gave you commander rights to the carrier.”

  The itch faded away and Dave looked to Bob.

  “Think of turning the lights on and off.”

  Dave did so and the room’s lights turned on and off in time with his thoughts. “Okay, that is seriously weird,” Dave said.

  “Welcome to Jukal technology!” Bob laughed and moved to a box.

  “I also got told that I can now disable the Jukal link,” Dave said.

  Bob paused with his hand on a box. “Yeah, so, when you want to, you can stop the Jukal from watching through your eyes and using systems located within your own body,” Bob said.

  “Devices in my body?” Dave asked.

  “Questions later. Let me show you something cool first.” Bob heaved on the door handle of the box. It opened to reveal ingots stacked upon one another.

  Dave’s eyes went wide with what he was seeing. He picked up one of the ingots, feeling the textures of the white metal in his hands. His Touch of the Land scoured the metal and assured him that his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

  “All of this is Mithril? This is more than a yearly output of Mithril from all the Dwarven mountains!” Dave said.

  “In here, I have the highest quality materials from across Emerilia—from pelts, to wood to metals and soul gems. I’ve even replicated a few of your vault-classed soul gems.” Bob led Dave through the racks.

  Dave’s senses were pushed out, finding materials he didn’t even know of around him. It was more than a treasure trove; it was unimaginable to his mind.

  Bob showed off different items he had: weapons that came from every aggressive species, books on their language, entire shelves that recorded species that had been killed off. The history and resources of Emerilia’s six hundred years was held in those shelves. They passed through holding areas that might have been filled with food, weapons, parts and fuel for the imperial carrier. They had been stripped away from the ship, giving Bob plenty of room.

  Dave followed along, in awe of Bob’s collection of resources. “Bob, what is this all for?”

  “Well, recording the species that have been destroyed—there is always something to be learned from them. The materials I’ve kept in order to have something ready if I ever needed it. Though since you’re here, I can gift them to you to be used,” Bob said, never stopping his stride.

  “You’re going to gift this all to me? Why?” Dave asked.

  “No one can really understand what the coming war will mean or what it will turn into. Dave, when I said that we’re fighting for the future of Humanity, I damned well meant it. Emerilia might be changed forever and the Jukal Empire can’t see what they’ve done. They just want to be entertained, given the next thing to talk about with their friends, to make bets on and suck their life away as they live their stagnant, boring lives. These creatures they’re letting out are more powerful than anything I have ever known. I can’t even compare them to a Jukal company, platoon, or brigade. They’ve never fought one another and the Jukal see Emerilia as someone else’s issue. It’s like news back on Earth: you see something and think that couldn’t happen to me and go about your lives. Well, here it is going to happen to them and they don’t even know it, just blindly wandering forward without a thought to what they’re playing with. If we survive all of the armies thrown at us, then we’re going to have to survive the aggressive species. If we can do that, then Emerilia’s people are going to be stronger than ever. What do you think the Jukal are going to do when they realize any of this?” Bob asked as a new door opened for him.

  “Nothing good,” Dave said.

  “They’re going to do everything they can to regain control of Emerilia, through whatever means necessary and then start it all over again.”

  Dave looked around the new room. His eyes landed on rows of event horizons at the end of the room. Through many, he saw massive warehouses filled with materials and goods.

  “You’ve started the basis of one of the strongest alliances on Emerilia. I need you to succeed and I need the armies that stand with you to be the strongest possible. All of this is for your use
,” Bob said.

  “Bob, those are portals...to other warehouses,” Dave said.

  “Yes, they are. Didn’t you think that I would skim off a few goodies from the seeders? At first, I just wanted to get around easily, doing experiments and getting Emerilia up and running. Then it turned into stocking materials and items for trade or use when they were necessary.”

  “This is incredible,” Dave said.

  “Yeah, though how the hell you’re going to move this all I leave up to you,” Bob said.

  “Crap.”

  Chapter 33: Streamline

  Dave appeared back in his experimental warehouse. He started to walk out, but as he looked around, he felt something was off.

  “Bob! Need my chair back!” Dave yelled into the room.

  A second later, his rolling chair reappeared.

  “Thanks, dude!” Dave made to leave again, before he turned around and grabbed the carvers. He put bands of different metal into the burner, conjuring metal over his own hand to protect it. Dave didn’t have the time to experiment with the rings. He finished off three rings in ten minutes and put them into his bag of holding. He took off the amulet Bob had given him and put it into his bag as well.

  He formed Mithril on his fingers and grabbed a section of Mithril. His runes lit up as his eyes turned to silver. Mithril, ebony, silver, and pieces of soul gems were integrated into the band. Dave put it on his hand, pulling heat from the fused metals.

  Dave pointed his palm at a wall; a spearhead exploded on the Mana barrier.

  Dave turned one of the three bands that made the bracelet as he started to walk out. He was getting a large Mana headache but he had a lot to do. Dave quickly exited the seeder and sprinted for the smithy. It took him just a few minutes to reach it. He found Kol not long after.

  “I thought you were experimenting tonight,” Kol said.

  Dave looked around, noticing that it was nighttime. With his night vision, the colors of day and night were just slightly off from one another.

  “I was supposed to, but now I’ve got something I need to do. This is a gift for you.” Dave pulled out the carvers and put them on a workbench.

  “What are they?” Kol asked.

  “They’re carvers. Spin really fast at one end—will allow you and the rest to engrave metals much easier. I’ve got a factory making them downstairs. Right now I need to get off to Devil’s Crater, then Alephir, and the guild,” Dave said in rapid-fire.

  “Everything okay?” Kol asked.

  “Uh, well, kind of. Just need to make sure that some things are taken care of. Just got a big helping hand on the supplies side.” Dave made to leave, paused and looked back to Kol. “Talk to Deia and see if she knows some bow makers. Oh, and we’re going to need Dwarves who know how to build artillery, the new titanium artillery. If you can find any of those people, then get me some plans on what they would need to set up a factory. I’ll see if I can’t get some Aleph to help speed up the process.”

  “What do we need that all for?” Kol asked.

  “The coming war,” Dave said, remembering Bob’s words when they’d passed through a portal into one of his massive warehouses. This might look impressive, but the creatures I have in holding take up nearly twenty times the room and are more deadly than anything your current group of Players have ever seen. The look in Bob’s eyes more than his words had gotten across to Dave: Bob was scared by these creatures.

  It was past time that Dave got to working on making sure Emerilia was ready for what was to come.

  “I should be back by tomorrow.” Dave opened up his interface as he ran out of the smithy, toward the teleport pad.

  “What about the new smiths and Ukon?” Kol yelled.

  “Hire everyone you think is worth the investment. I might be back in time to talk with Ukon!”

  Dave sent messages to Alkao, Hamdir, and Jesal. It was going to be a busy night, just not in the way he was hoping. Jesal was the first to reply.

  Private Message

  Jesal> What’s up?

  Dave> I’ve just come into a windfall of materials. I can’t use them all and I am willing to sell them to the Dwarves, but with the condition that they are to be used for updating the armor and weapons of the Warclans.

  Jesal> We’ve got a lot of projects going on that would need those materials. I know the Warclans are a big priority. Though I can’t make that commitment without more reason.

  Dave> The Grey God put them under my control. Their purpose is to help the alliance be ready for the coming war.

  Dave made it to the teleport pad and checked his other messages. Alkao had replied. He didn’t have time to check it just yet.

  “Devil’s Crater,” Dave said to the teleport pad’s controller. They nodded and activated the teleport pad.

  Unity appeared on the other side and Dave ran through.

  Private Message

  Jesal> How much materials are we talking about?

  Dave> Enough to change all of the Warclans’ artillery guns. It’s like two decades’ worth of all the Dwarven mountains’ mining.

  Jesal> $#@%! Okay, I’ll get talking to people and see what we can come up with. I was going to sleep tonight, you know.

  Dave> Ah, sleep is for the weak, didn’t you tell me that?

  Jesal> Smart ass.

  Dave switched over to the other chat as he ran through Unity.

  Private Message

  Alkao> I’m in the government building. No rest for the wicked, I guess. What do you need?

  Dave> Be there in five. Got something to discuss with you to make your fliers much more powerful.

  Dave ran to the government building. Soldiers, upon seeing Dave, checked him for illusion magic and then ushered him quickly inside. He was stopped twice more before he made it to Alkao’s new office near the top of the tower.

  Dave burst in, drinking from his water skin.

  “Whew! Good little run there. You got somewhere where I can test out some explosives?” Dave wiped his face with his sleeve.

  “Dave, what did you mean in your message?”

  Dave saw his messages blinking. He opened it, finding Hamdir had replied. Got to talk to him next. Dave moved to the balcony.

  “I’ve got something that might really improve your army, though I don’t have much time, so, I need you to come with me,” Dave said.

  “Well, it’ll get me out of this office.” Alkao sighed and rose.

  “Where are most of your generals?” Dave asked.

  “Kala and Vrexu are off in the training area of Unity. Their soldiers will be the first to get your new armor,” Alkao said.

  “Let’s go pay them a visit. Mind giving me a ride?” Dave asked.

  “Can’t you fly?” Alkao’s wings opened up and stretched through the truly massive door that led to his balcony.

  “I can levitate for periods at a time—no flying. Though I do know some rather risky ways to get around, but I’d rather not use a rocket to get from here to the training ground.” Dave smirked.

  “Rocket?” Alkao asked.

  “Maybe one day I’ll show you. Shall we?”

  Alkao checked his shield and sword. His wings flapped and pulled him up into the air. His large feet grabbed onto Dave’s shoulders and Alkao dove over the banister.

  Dave yelled out as they rushed toward the ground. Alkao laughed as he turned his dive into a glide, quickly turning them toward the training area.

  “Hey, no interface and fly!” Dave said, seeing Alkao on his interface. I should have run to the training ground and had Alkao meet us there.

  “We’ll be fine.” Alkao dismissed his screen.

  ***

  A tired Malkur stretched and yawned. He had been doing paperwork while Kala and her people had the night off. Kala stumbled into the courtyard; she found a medic who healed her of her drinking. She stopped wobbling and headed to meet with Malkur.

  “What the heck is it that Alkao wants now?” Kala growled as she got closer.

&nb
sp; “Not sure, though we should find out soon.” Malkur pointed at the growing flier headed for their training area.

  There were multiple fliers in the early hours of the morning, but few were as big as Alkao in the sky.

  “Looks like he’s bringing us a package.” Kala pointed at the man in Alkao’s feet.

  Malkur squinted, looking at a displeased-looking Dwarf Halfling.

  “Looks like Dave came for a visit.” Malkur had a note of respect in his voice as he touched his blade. The weapon was the finest that he had ever seen. He couldn’t use it in sparring for the advantages it gave him. Having Kala around made it possible to actually train with the blade without fear of cutting the other’s weapons.

  Alkao came in to land and released Dave, who dropped onto the ground, squatting to absorb the impact.

  “Ugh, hate this nature version of flying. Give me a damned plane any day of the week. At least they’re trained to do it,” Dave muttered, pulling out a disk of metal.

  “So, what do you need us for?” Kala asked.

  “Dave has a plan for a weapon that our fliers can use,” Alkao said.

  “Well, everyone can use it. First, just to make sure, you’re going to be changing your organization into two main groups: those who can fly and those who can’t. Your fighting tactics are not going to be stand-up battles but rather hit-and-run, whittling down the enemy and making their lives hell and any expeditions they make costly.” Dave looked to them all.

  “Pretty much,” Malkur said.

  “We will be adding in artillery units, mage units and healers, as well as supply services,” Kala added.

  “Good, good. Might have some of that artillery ready for you soon enough. In the meantime, I want to show you something that will change the way that your army fights. Do you have a range around here?” Dave asked.

  “This way.” Malkur waved for Dave to follow him. They all walked toward the archery range.

  “So, what is this idea?” Alkao asked.